Work, Play, and Rivalry
by OneCreativeIdiot
Summary: A simple work project splits two good friends in half. What's even worse is who they choose as a work partner.


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know that my previous "Disney" fanfic was way too long and rushed in some parts (mostly the ending), so please allow me to try again.

DISCLAIMER: All characters under the "Disney" name are property of Walt Disney Animation Studios; the name "Disneyland" is property of the Walt Disney Company.

Everything in Disneyland was just the way it always was- free from any problems of all sizes. From the villages to the towns and to the cities, characters went about doing their various tasks, like going to work or school or to a store that fit their current need. There was also the familiar sense of happiness and tranquility in the atmosphere. No one knew why, but, whatever made all of Disneyland the wonderful place that it always was, it was working well.

In a ten-story building somewhere in Animahiem, the capital of Disneyland, a conference room was filled with characters ready to learn about whatever project or subject they were going to work on. Among them was a lion named Mufasa and a Dalmatian named Pongo. They were sitting next to one another, chatting among themselves much like everyone else in the room. It was quite boring to be sitting in the room while their boss was running late; however, the comfy chairs and a few employees who were good friends with each other was enough to keep everyone in place.

After what felt like ten minutes, the familiar face of Baloo the Bear finally appeared in the conference room. He wasn't out of breath or anything, but he did apologize for arriving a little late. No one was mad at the slightest, so it was relieving for any who would occasionally run late.

Taking the remote that was set on the table near him, Baloo turned on the flat-screen television and cleared his throat. "It has come to the company's attention," he began; "that we have been airing the same commercials for the past few years. Our business executives had recently paid a visit to the studio who produced those ads and informed them that their writers were running out of good ideas for new commercials. So, after a well-thought out debate, they have asked me to (hopefully) persuade some of you to help out with the company."

The presentation Baloo had prepared was a combination of small bits of information and videos of television commercials for the company, which specialized in various forms of entertainment, most specifically music and shows on TV. Most of the commercials had to have been- in anyone's guess -about five years old. Commercials that were recently made were scarce. The odds that the company's popularity and finances are slowly declining because of the re-runs were easily noticeable. If this continued, the company would have to make changes, obviously meaning they would have to let some- if not most -of their employees go.

With concern floating over the characters, everyone paid more attention to Baloo's lecture.

"In order to prevent any future unnecessary conflicts in the company," Baloo stated; "we are asking all employees with high levels of creativity to submit any ideas for TV advertisements. The deadline for all propositions is the first Saturday of next month. On the night of that day, we will be hosting a party and contest to decide what will be the next commercial to air on TV. There will be no losers, so there's no need to worry about a thing. Just remember, the company wants something fresh and appropriate; so, do not go that far out of the box."

After pressing the power button on the remote, Baloo passed around a sheet of paper to all of the characters who were present in the room. On the paper was a short description of the assignment and a list of rules that anyone could find familiar, such as "all content must be appropriate for all audiences" and "do not copy any previous advertisements". For many, just looking at this sheet of paper brought them back to their years in grade school, when their teachers would give them a project to work on and they had to follow certain instructions. It was giving them a clear explanation of what the company wanted for their next, brand new commercial, and the employees who were selected for the task of creating it accepted it any reluctance- if there was any.

Baloo dismissed the employees from the conference room and everyone got back to work. Although the characters were concentrating on their daily assignments, those who had viewed Baloo's presentation and learned about the company's proposition were clearly excited for the party and contest- even though nothing was said about a reward for the contest winner. As they worked, the characters brainstormed dozens of ideas in a matter of minutes, but choosing one would come later.

When it came time for all employees to take a lunch break, everyone headed for the building's cafeteria. During their hour off, the character engaged in pleasant conversation.

After eating their lunch, Mufasa and Pongo began discussing their ideas for the next company advertisement. Because they were good friends, they decided to create a commercial proposition together.

"I was thinking that the commercial should be an animated slideshow," said Mufasa. "You know, nothing crazy or anything, but presented in a way that will really attract anyone easily."

"Well, I was thinking we should have someone singing a song about the company," said Pongo. "Perhaps have it as a short music video. Something like that will really draw crowds!"

The ideas they spoke of were at the top of their mental lists. They both wanted their suggestion to be the one they chose. However, as the conversation went on, Mufasa and Pongo grew more and more annoyed by their little debate. It became so bad that when lunch break was over, they threw up their paws and stomped away from each other.

"I can't believe that Pongo wouldn't agree with me!" Mufasa muttered to himself. "We're the best of friends and, yet, he disagrees over an excellent idea!"

"How dare that Mufasa keep to his idea and not go with mine!" Pongo muttered to himself. "It's like he doesn't have enough brains to see and hear pure art!"

As they made their way back to their desks, both Mufasa and Pongo said the same thing while still far away from each other- "If he won't go along with my idea, I'll do it myself!"

They didn't speak to each other for the rest of the day. As such, neither of them said a word to one another when they were leaving for home- that didn't happen of course, since they continued to keep their distance from each other. Both the lion and the Dalmatian went home with the goal of making their commercial proposition the best they could.

The deadline for the advertisement suggestions was- as Baloo had stated -the first Saturday of the following month, which was less than three weeks away. Fourteen or so days was a good amount of time for any small project, but, as such, none of it was to be wasted by doing absolutely nothing.

The day after receiving the project assignment, Mufasa and Pongo went straight to working on their advertisement's conception. At the start, they both thought it would be easy as pie. Unfortunately, it really wasn't with the work that had to be done. Mufasa had great difficulty with imagining the perfect illustrations and storyboards, and Pongo was becoming more and more stressed with writing the song's lyrics. Their levels of stress was the most noticeable similarity between them, but, just like anyone else, they weren't in the position to give up.

Eventually, the need for a short break arose, and Mufasa and Pongo decided it was the best to relax for a few minutes. Pongo went to the bathroom and then to the kitchen to grab a quick snack before returning to his study. Mufasa, however, was stopped by his mate, Sarabi. "Can you take Simba over to Patch's house?" she asked.

"What for?" Mufasa asked.

"You know why," Sarabi replied. "He and Patch are the best of friends, much like you and Pongo."

Yeah, like me and that despicable Dalmatian, Mufasa thought.

Though he didn't want to go, Mufasa agreed since he couldn't say no to their son Simba. He was a very lovable lion cub because of the perfect characteristics that made up his admirable personality. The same could be said for his Dalmatian pup friend Patch. Everyone knew him for both his kindness and the black spot over his right eye. A fact like that was the perfect recipe for a wonderful friendship, and the one Patch and Simba had had lasted since kindergarten.

Because of the short distance between the two houses, walking was the best way to travel to Patch's house. During the trip, Simba was his usual active self, but Mufasa was quiet. He was still mad about having to go to the place where Pongo resided.

When they reached Patch's house, Simba met up with Patch and they retreated to the pup's bedroom. Mufasa was about to head back to his house to continue his commercial idea when he was stopped once again- this time, by Pongo's mate, Perdita. Not wanting to be rude, the lion decided that it would be alright to chat with the Dalmatian for a little bit.

"Patch and Simba certainly are the greatest of friends," said Perdita. "I see a great future for them both. Pongo and I know it with Patch- we gave him a digital art kit for Christmas, and the stuff he creates with it is absolutely beautiful."

Upon hearing the words "digital art kit", Mufasa instantly gained interest. Perdita told him about the digital art kit and what it consisted of- a computer program and a digital drawing tablet with a matching pen. Not long after receiving his extravagant Christmas present, Patch immediately created several digital paintings that everyone- Pongo, Perdita, and the other pups that made up their loving family -praised when they saw them.

Mufasa was no longer listening to whatever else Perdita had to say. He was already planning on how to pull off his advertisement proposition.

When Perdita left the kitchen for a moment, Mufasa heard Pongo tell her, "Perdy, I'm going for a walk. It's nothing to be concerned about, but I just need to clear my head for a moment."

The sounds that followed were the opening and closing of the front door, and Perdita climbing the stairs to check on Patch and Simba. With silence surrounding him, Mufasa continued to deliberate on how he was to convince Patch to be his secret work partner.

Meanwhile, Pongo strolled down the sidewalk as he tried to calm down. The strains of grueling solo work were sending him on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As he walked, he breathed in and out to release the stress within his mind.

Pongo soon came upon Mufasa's house, where Sarabi was out admiring the day from the front porch. She called out to him and he replied back. In no time, they engaged in conversation, with Pongo slowly inching closer and closer to the lioness, knowing that her mate would probably jump out from nowhere and scare him away.

"I've heard that your son Patch has been busy with his digital drawing," said Sarabi. "It sounds like he won't have any problems deciding on what he would want to do after high school. The same can be said for my little Simba. After Mufasa and I heard him singing for his friend Nala, we bought him one of those voice recording sets for Christmas."

Almost immediately, Pongo felt excitement within him. "A 'voice recording set'?" Pongo inquired. "Are you saying you bought him a 'microphone'?"

Sarabi nodded and explained to Pongo about the voice recording equipment she and Mufasa bought for Simba. It wasn't anything too expensive, as the lioness said, but it was something very suitable for a vocal artist's needs- a good condenser microphone with a shock mount, stand, pop filter, and matching headphones was what anyone could imagine; there was also a phantom power supply adapter for the microphone as well as a special computer program which allowed Simba to record and mix sound.

Pongo had reached the level of cheerfulness that he needed the most. All he had to do was speak with Simba and, when the cub was convinced well enough, his project will be a piece of cake.

The next day, while they were at work, Mufasa and Pongo quietly pondered about how they could win the trust of Patch and Simba respectively. Neither of them spoke a word about it to anyone, especially to their competitor since it would obviously spark great indignation between them. In the end, they were still clueless, but they both decided to be themselves when talking with their secret partners.

It was a long work day for them both. When it was finally time to clock out for the day, Mufasa and Pongo rushed out to search for their young project associates. Patch and Simba were in different spots at the city park, both doing what they enjoyed the most in their spare time- Patch was drawing in a sketch pad and Simba was writing in a little journal with the title "Lyric Library" printed on the cover. Mufasa and Pongo found their young associate and talked to them. Interestingly enough, the two youngsters agreed to help out with the promise that their names would be included in the final product.

For the first few days, everything was going according to plan. In that short time period, Patch had imagined and sketched about four amazing illustrations for Mufasa, and Simba had thought up of three good songs for Pongo. At their current rates, Mufasa and Pongo would be able to send in their advertisement ideas in no time.

Unfortunately, there soon came a point when the relationship between producer and sponsor would turn sour.

From almost completely out of nowhere, Mufasa and Pongo were suddenly concerned about what their production partners were giving them. Patch was told that he needed to create drawings that were more "eye-opening", and Simba was informed that the song for the commercial had to be something both "flavorful" and "mesmerizing".

The pup and cub were immensely confused and disappointed; their creative work was being rejected for reasons that weren't fully explained to them. Nevertheless, they pressed on.

Another few days went by and the work continued; but Mufasa and Pongo were still not satisfied by what Patch and Simba were sending to them. They would often speak to their young colleague about what they were looking for in their proposition, like style or rhythm, in hopes of achieving what they wanted. The young workers understood and kept going.

Mufasa and Pongo kept a sharp eye on their stock of materials and the work they've already received. What they didn't notice was the condition of Patch and Simba. The two youngsters weren't getting scolded by their bosses, but they were exhausted. Anyone would wonder why they would be greatly tired. If a person was aware that Patch and Simba were also working in their bedrooms at night secretly, then it wouldn't be that much of a mystery.

It wasn't becoming that much of a concern until another day had passed. Patch and Simba dragged themselves to school and tried to stay awake throughout the day. They had a test in history class and both of them had studied for it as much as they could, but the work out of school was taking its toll on them. While everyone else finished their tests in perfect time, Patch and Simba had dozed off with no one- not even the teacher -noticing.

When the bell rang for recess and the class had left, the teacher finally noticed Patch and Simba sleeping on their desks. It was quite a surprise for them to still be asleep after hearing the school bell go off. The teacher woke them both up by shaking their shoulders. Patch and Simba were shocked to have learned that they had fallen asleep in class and straight through the test. They both got to work immediately.

When the school day ended, the teacher informed Sarabi and Perdita by phone about what had happened and expressed his concerns about the noticeable alteration in their sons' complexion. After she received the phone call, Perdita dialed Sarabi's phone number. "Sarabi, did you get a phone call from your son's history teacher?" she inquired.

"I have," Sarabi replied. "It's very unlike them both, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is very peculiar. Both Patch and Simba are almost angelic when you review their past history. There's not a speck of anything vile or abnormal to be seen."

"And yet, they've slept through a test. That is something neither of our sons would ever do."

Perdita and Sarabi conversed for a while before hanging up. Then they spoke to their mates about the issue. Pongo and Mufasa interacted as any other concerned parent would; in the back of their minds, though, the Dalmatian and lion believed that their competitor was the reason behind the problem.

The next day they were at work, Pongo confronted Mufasa in one of the building's break rooms. "Perdy told me the strangest thing last night," he said in a near growl. "Apparently, Patch fell asleep during a history test and didn't wake until the class was over."

"Funny," Mufasa replied, he too sounded like he was ready to snarl; "because Sarabi told me the same thing about Simba."

As the confrontation slowly morphed into a clash, Mufasa and Pongo began to walk in a circle while stilling keeping their eyes locked on each other. "Don't try and act stupid, Pongo!" Mufasa threatened. "It's all too clear that you've repeatedly intimidated my son so I would lose focus of my project!"

"Oh, so I'm the bully here?" Pongo barked. "You think your son's academic problems are my doing? How do explain my son's recent slip? I think you've been threatening him as well!"

Both lion and Dalmatian were ready to brawl and rip each other apart. Their consciences got a-hold of them before either of them could pounce on their enemy. They exchanged their final warnings before returning to their desks to continue work for the day.

Meanwhile, Patch and Simba were relaxing on a bench near the school playground. They were fortunate enough to stay alert during the day's lessons and they earned recess for the day. While the other kids played and ran around the area, the pup and cub sat on their bench and talked to each other.

"Yesterday was awful," said Simba.

Patch nodded and replied, "Thank Walt that we had completed that test in the extra time we got. If it had ended differently, we would've been in more trouble than any of us could comprehend."

"Agreed," Simba said in a yawned.

Their conversation was slow-paced but it did help Patch and Simba relieve themselves of the negative thoughts that had been building up in their heads for the past few days. When the topic of the commercial assignment was brought up, the stories about Mufasa and Pongo cascaded out of their mouths like waterfalls, and they were both outraged by what they had heard from the youngster next to him.

"I can't believe they would do this to us!" Patch cried out in anger. "First, they go against each other, and now, they're trying to turn us against each other!"

"I don't think that's exactly what they're trying to pull off," Simba said calmly; "but what they're doing to us is inexcusable. We have to do something to stop this before it gets worse."

Silence fell for a moment before Patch took a deep breath and told his lion cub pal, "I know exactly what to do, Simba. We are going to do the thing our dads should've done to avoid the four of us being in this mess."

Simba smiled and asked, "You mean we're going to do the most predictable thing anyone could do in a situation like this?"

"Exactly," Patch answered with a grin.

No time was wasted in planning their revenge. It wasn't going to be anything major that would cause a commonplace mishap like something being destroyed. What Patch and Simba had in mind was a harmless plot to surely open the eyes of their fathers, so they could finally realize that their little war was not the answer but the starting point for many more years of conflict between them.

As crazy as it may sound, Mufasa and Pongo didn't find it odd that Patch and Simba were no longer sending them drawings or song lyrics. They both believed that they were simply working on the latest of their products, and they hoped that it would be something that would blow everyone away.

With the month nearing its ending point, Mufasa and Pongo grew exceedingly distressed over the lack of communication between them and their partners. They feared something was immensely wrong and, if the silence was to continue, they would not be able to pitch their advertisement ideas. For them, the simple task of giving the company a suggestion for a new commercial had become a matter of life or death.

On the day before the next month, the panic-stricken lion and Dalmatian went to work. They didn't want to since there was a high chance that they would end up suffering a nervous breakdown; however, they both had a sense within them that said they had to dismiss their problems and carry on with their normal lives.

After clocking in, Mufasa and Pongo were greeted by a jovial Baloo. They were both confused as to why he was so happy, and it gained strength when the bear led them to his office. "Take a seat, boys," Baloo said as he took his seat in the swivel chair in front of his desk.

Mufasa and Pongo obliged and sat down on the two chairs facing Baloo's desk.

"I have to say that your advertisement idea is one for the books!" Baloo told the duo in front of him. "Some critics might think that what you two have done is completely original; but, to someone like me, your project is entirely creative. I'd never thought to see the day when I would see the best animated slideshow ever! Not to mention the song that went along with it; I've never heard an original song that good!"

Mufasa and Pongo looked at each other and then back to Baloo- they were now more puzzled than hysterical. "And how did you get a-hold of our finished product?" Pongo inquired timidly.

Baloo's answer added more confusion for them both. "It was given to me by your mates, Perdita and Sarabi," he said.

For the rest of the day, Mufasa and Pongo wondered exactly what had previously occurred. It was odd that a commercial proposal with their names on it would end up in the paws of their boss. They were precisely sure what he had seen, but it was evident that it was a combination of both Mufasa's idea and Pongo's idea. Because of the circumstances over the past ten days or so, it was a total surprise for them.

The mystery was eventually solved when the work day was over.

As they stepped out of the elevator, Mufasa and Pongo immediately spotted Perdita, Patch, Simba, and Sarabi waiting for them. Patch and Simba had their normal, cheerful expressions, while Perdita and Sarabi appeared more mad than their sons.

"So, how did everything go?" Perdita asked, breaking the silence around them.

"It...um...went...very well," Pongo replied, slightly stuttering.

"That's nice," said Perdita.

"Would you like to know how your project got to your boss?" Sarabi questioned.

Mufasa and Pongo both nodded nervously.

"You're welcome, dad," Patch and Simba said in the tone of obedient children.

That was when Mufasa and Pongo finally sensed the temperature of the hot water they were in. They gulp in unison as Sarabi and Perdita approached them. "We'll discuss this at home," the lioness and Dalmatian stated simultaneously.

The journey home was mostly noiseless. Perdita and Sarabi led the way with Mufasa and Pongo trailing behind them, their heads hanging down in shame. Patch and Simba were in between their parents still looking cheerful as they always were. Though they hardly spoke during the walk home, Simba got close to Patch at one point and whispered, "It's a shame that our dads didn't think of the obvious when they still had a chance."

"Yeah," Patch replied in a low volume. "Everyone makes mistakes and they can fix them. The mess our dads got into is another story."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Well, that's the end of the story, and, to be honest, I feel like this one sucked as well. I can't be sure though- this "Disney" fanfic was shorter than the previous one I did, but I can't really be sure. Tell me what you guys think and, if you want me to try again with a different genre or something, send me some advice or an idea for such a story via Private Message. Until then, see you guys later.


End file.
